I, unfortunately, had the "Well, if you're going to have a miscarriage....there's not a lot we can do about it." from a dr. who was on-call for my regular OB when I was spotting at 10 weeks with ds. This was after 9 years of infertility, and I was already a nervous wreck. Thankfully, it did stop, and ds was fine. And the on-call dr. retired shortly after this. I had spotting/bleeding off and on throughout the first trimester with dd. I thought for certain I was going to miscarry with her, but my regular OB was very kind and had me come in each time and do an ultrasound. Dd was also fine, but it was nice to have a more compassionate dr. Sorry you got the response you did, and I hope everything works out. :grouphug:

Thank you all for the great suggestions! I'm giving the list of ideas to dh and will see what he thinks. :-) I'm leaning towards the tool or book ideas.

My dh has decided he'd like to start a tradition of giving dd and ds a keepsake type gift on Christmas Eve. He is planning to give dd earrings ($20-$30), but we can't think of something similar for ds(11) that he could give him each year. Any ideas??

Has anyone actually been able to get through to Target? I've been trying for hours to call and close my Redcard, since it is a debit card. I either get, "We're sorry, we cannot process your call at this time" or get through to the selection of closing the account and get disconnected. Grrrrr....so frustrating!

I know many are opposed to flu shots and other vaccines. I have not personally experienced a problem with the flu vaccine, other than a mildly sore arm the next day. I had the flu in 1995, at age 24. I was very, very sick, developed pneumonia, missed two weeks of work, and really wasn't well for a couple months. I've had a flu shot every year since then and have not had the flu again. Dc (8 and 11) have had annual flu shots since they were babies and have also not had the flu, nor any reaction to the shot. As with anything, you'll have to weigh the risk vs benefit and decide what's best for your family. :)

I would guess this is a temporary phase caused by teething and the need for the morning nap phasing out. My ds woke up at 5 am and around 9 months had a bad spell where he wouldn't go down for the morning nap. I gave up the morning nap, and moved his afternoon nap back to about noon. He was cranky for a week or two but then went back to going down easily for one afternoon nap. If baby's mom gets her to bed early in the evening, she really probably no longer needs the morning nap at 10 months old. I'm sure the teething isn't helping either, but that will get better.

Agree Badge Magic is the way to go if you don't want to sew. It can be ordered from Amazon.

I also didn't vote and am not in favor. We live in a suburban area where most people commute 20-40 miles each way for work. We have no public transportation in our area, so it's not even an option.

I work for our local library, and you would have been fine to check out with your dc's card. I guess the policy is going to vary by library.

I second another poster's recommendation of a pug. We have an almost 6-year-old pug, and she's been a great fit for our family. We got her as a puppy when dc were 3 & 5. She has always been very sweet and patient with them. She was also a very good puppy as far as not chewing everything and housetraining. She's a little dog, but thinks she's big. :-) I like that she's playful, but not crazy, wild or yappy. Very cuddly with everyone and sleeps with dd(9). Gets along well with our cats and visitors. Basically, just a very friendly, happy dog. :-)

Thank you for all the replies and ideas. We do supplement D3, omega 3's and a multivitamin. I hadn't considered other vitamin deficiencies or metabolic issues. My dh just saw a new dr for his own sleep apnea that is both and MD and a Naturopath. He really liked him and found him very helpful. Maybe a visit to this dr would be a good place to start.

Yes, the ENT thought he may have apnea since he was snoring, sleep walking and the bed wetting. His adenoid was also very large. The surgery did nothing for the bed wetting, but he no longer snores or sleep walks at all and seems to be breathing quietly and regularly when asleep, so he doesn't suspect apnea. Environmental allergy testing showed no environmental allergies. He has sensory processing disorder and had occupational therapy for about a year for that. She noted his core muscle tone was low but was within normal range for his age when he completed OT. This child is very bright, very sensitive and can also tend to be overly dramatic. It's hard to know with him what to be concerned about versus what is no big deal. Generally, I agree it would probably be best to see an allergist. But, he has a lot of medical anxiety which is why I hesitate to take him in without a clear reason. (For example, he saw the commercial on TV about the meningitis vaccine, then spent the next four nights upset and worrying that he had meningitis.) I also understand the issue with gluten as far as it needing to still be in his system if he is tested. My instinct would be to do a trial of removing dairy first. I've read some relationship between some of his symptoms and dairy. Also, my younger dd had confirmed dairy allergy as a toddler. She's outgrown it, but will still have digestive problems if she has too much.

I'm wondering if my ds(10) has a food allergy/intolerance that is causing some long-term issues he's been dealing with. I suspect it is either dairy or gluten, but am not sure which to try eliminating first. I've talked with our pediatrician multiple times about it, but he doesn't think an allergy is involved--he says he would have other more allergy-like symptoms (rashes, hives, etc). He had a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy last year and they were supposed to do allergy testing while he was under anesthesia. Although we discussed food allergy testing with the ENT multiple times, they only did environmental allergy testing. Ds gets very, very upset about medical procedures, and even a blood draw causes a complete meltdown. I may end up just taking him and enduring the meltdown, but am considering just eliminating the suspected foods as a trial first. He's seeing a psychologist for the anxiety/meltdown issues, but I'm starting to think there may be another medical component contributing to his problems. His symptoms are: daytime fatigue even after sleeping 9-10 hours dark circles under eyes chronic constipation (since age 2) frequent acid reflux frequent hunger (his weight is normal) bedwetting irritability/anxiety/easily upset inability to focus/very distractible Has anyone had a child with these type of symptoms? Any suggestions? ETA additional symptoms.

I was in a similar situation with ds(10) last year. Dh and I decided it just was not going to be a good fit for him and brought him home in Feb. His attitude, while not perfect, greatly improved with homeschooling again.

I took my ds out of 4th grade last February. I was stressed about it, but it was no big deal. Turned in withdraw form to the school, turned in intent to homeschool to the district office. Everyone was nice, and had no issues.

She should still check with her insurance. It was 10+ years ago when we had our evaluation, so things have probably changed. At that time, our insurance would not cover any infertility treatments, but they did cover the evaluation to get a diagnosis just as they would a regular medical visit.

Agree with pp that sometimes there is no answer, but I still think they should have an evaluation because sometimes there are things they can do. Or, as in my sister's situation, they spent three years trying with her charting, using fertility monitors, etc. only to find out her dh was never going to be able to have children. That gave them closure on the fertility issue, and they proceeded to adopt two little boys.

I am sorry for your friend's struggle. We went through infertility for 9 years, so I understand how difficult it is. IMHO, like others have mentioned, they both need to be evaluated by a RE. I wouldn't spend any more time or money trying to figure if out on their own. It will be easier on them both if they can find out where the problems are and go from there.

I also emailed and got a response with the $60 off coupon.

I just emailed a complaint as well....mostly just on the principle of it. Although I will gladly order another Kindle if given the offer.

Agree. I also get many of the symptoms listed from acid reflux and/or panic attacks.

For my dd, CIO did not work at all. Although, I know it does help most babies learn to get to sleep after only a few nights, and I don't think it causes any long-term problems. At the advice of our pediatrician, we did try this with dd when she was 9 months old, assured it would only take a few nights. Twenty-three nights later (and we were very, very consistent with her during this time), she was no better, and I was more exhausted than ever. At that point, it worked best for me to just get up with her every few hours when she cried. I just held her in the rocking chair. She was usually only up 15-20 minutes at a time. I don't know what the 'magic' was that got her started sleeping through the night, but she did.

I agree that I don't know that there is a secret....I think baby's temperament has a lot to do with it. My ds was a great sleeper....slept 8-9 hours at night from 10 weeks old, took consistent naps, was able to put himself to sleep pretty easily in his crib, woke up happy. I did keep a consistent schedule with him for bedtime routine, nap times, etc., but nothing special. Then I had dd. Absolutely nothing worked to help her sleep. I did everything I had done with ds, but she would only nap being held, woke up every 2 hours all night until she was 2 years old, cried a lot. I thought I may die of sleep exhaustion. I read every book ever published about getting babies to sleep, tried every sleeping arrangement, and even added her to the prayer chain at church, I was so desperate! Finally, one night when she was about 2 1/2, she just slept through the night and did from that time on (she's almost 9 now). Never really did take naps, but I was ok with that as long as we were sleeping at night. I understand your exhaustion.....hoping the new baby will be a good sleeper. It won't last forever, but I know it feels like it will. :grouphug:

I've heard that a lot and assume it has a generally positive intent. I either do the vague smile, or laugh and say, "Most days I don't think I can either." :-)

Agree that you should check with your doctor about tapering off. I've been taking Klonopin for severe anxiety during PMS for years now. So, for one week/month, I take 1 mg at night, and .25 mg during the day. I only take it for 1 week/month, so I don't build up a tolerance, but I've also never noticed any side effects when I stop after the week of taking it. There's a lot of scary information on the internet about every drug, so just work with your doctor in tapering and don't scare yourself reading other people's horror stories....it will only increase your anxiety. (I've done this way too many times. :-)